Decimal Tenths

22/10/2026

21/10/2026

🔴 Adam’s Audi S3 8V | DT450 Hybrid Turbo Package

Adam got in touch and enquired about a hybrid turbo package for his 8V S3. He told us about his goals, how he uses the car, what he wants and through some discussion we offered him what is one of our most tried and tested packages - The DT-450 💥

One of the points that he knew about was that his car was an early 8V S3 so had the Simos 12 ECU. Its not a bad bit of kit but it would be sacrilege to continue on with that when a Simos 18 conversion from a later S3 would make the car much better.

We put together a complete setup to suit the car, including:

🌬 DT450 hybrid turbo
💻 Simos 12 to Simos 18 ECU upgrade
💥 Trackslag.com downpipe
📈 Custom ECU calibration by Nick
⚙️ TVS Engineering DSG software

The hardware installation went smoothly, followed by the ECU conversion. This can be done quite easily be de-immobilising the ECU and then fitting, but we choose to properly integrate the ECU using ODIS. This ensures that the coding is correct and most importantly that his factory immobiliser is still working.

With the hardware in place, it was time to get stuck into the calibration.

The tuning went well, with the car producing 434.4bhp and 525.4Nm on the dyno. However, the final result is currently limited by the efficiency of the existing tube-and-fin intercooler.

It was easy to spot this during the tuning session and with some additional diagnsotic work. The datalogging that we carried out confirmed that the intercooler is becoming a restriction, so an upgraded item is on the list for next year. As always, we prefer to identify the actual limitation through data rather than simply throw parts at the car.

One thing Adam particularly noticed and commented on when he got back in touch was the improvement in drivability and overall smoothness.

That doesn't happen by accident. It's the result of the work we put into torque control within the ECU calibration, combined with the excellent drivability characteristics of the TVS Engineering DSG software.

Peak power figures are one thing, but how a car delivers that power and behaves on the road is just as important. Plus we dialled in his overun strategy to be just how he likes it when in Dynamic mode.

Adam is delighted with the result and loves the car — and we're looking forward to seeing what it can do once that intercooler upgrade is complete. 👌

Turbo available to buy here ⬇️⬇️

https://decimaltenths.co.uk/product/dt-450-stage-3-is38-hybrid-turbo-ea888-2-0-tsi-gen3-golf-r-s3-gti-etc/

📧 [email protected]

21/10/2026

Oh dear...

When it looks like this before you've even touched it, what chance's have you got?

Eh S63 Vag Spares ?

19/10/2026

Easy... or not?

We love a juicy fault around here. No honestly, we do.

Servicing is great and it pays many bills. Tuning is the passion and the flame burns bright. But bring us a fault and we get all kinds of excited.

This TT had already been attempted with no resolution to the airbag light on the dash. It really did seem an obvious fix to start with too. The pedestrian airbag warning had been activated by a minor bump and so the pressure tube and sensors needed replacement.

Sadly this also resulted in the airbag module falling over at the same time which is the reason the previous diagnosis didnt fix the problem and kept the light on the dash illuminated. ODIS confirmed the issue and the airbag module got swapped out along with initialising it in the car with component protection etc..

So all in, a pretty easy diagnostic this one. But dont tell Joe I said that as he is the one who had to dismantle the full centre console to get to it...😂

📧 [email protected]

18/10/2026

Long time coming 👀

Check out Bryn's SEAT Leon Cupra OPF on the rollers at Decimal Tenths!

Bryn has been using us for years, and it's custom like his that we genuinely appreciate. Over that time, we've helped identify issues that others couldn't get to the bottom of, carried out servicing, and advised him on keeping the car running as it should.

He loves his car, and was understandably cautious about getting it tuned. Rather than rushing into it, he took his time and got some lovely breathing and cooling modifications fitted before deciding it was time to unlock the car's potential. 👌

As always, we started with our usual healthcheck before getting stuck in. The IS38 turbo's always get a wiggle on to give us some sort of guidance as to the condition and his felt perfect!

⚙️ DSG: TVS Engineering Stage 2+ software. The benchmark for DSG calibration and the best option for super slick effortless shifts. Ever wondered why your DSG has niggles? It most likely needs this on there.

💻 ECU: Custom calibration by Nick here at DT - tailored to the car and its modifications. The key here was utilising the benefits of the modifications, but bringing it all together in a package which didnt stress out the stock downpipe and OPF. That was also important when enhancing the OEM overun strategy which was something Bryn requested too.

The results are pretty bang on for the spec, with an additional 56.9 BHP and 106 Nm of torque over the original run.

This isnt about getting w***y waving figures though, it's about taking the time to get the car checked over, and then doing the job properly - which is just how we do it, and just what Bryn expects of course 😁

A massive thanks to Bryn for continuing to trust us with his car over the years. We never take that loyalty for granted!

📧 [email protected]

14/10/2026

Love seeing the MQB throttle dance!

Right let's sort it out 👍

13/10/2026

Get it right 👌

To this day, engine timing related workshop activities take up a massive amount of our time... no pun intended.

Every engine needs timed and theres lots of them so no real surprise. What is surprising is how many that we do not long after they have already been done.

TFSI timing is one of the biggest for us, and its a task we do with ease. Before measurement, checks during and then also after is key and its this bit that so many fail on.

Yes you did your 2 revolutions, and yes the marks looks about right... ish. But is it actually right? And if you used the previous marks, were they even right? More not than you would think. Seriously.

Get us to do it though and it'll be right, every time. Completed, checked, confirmed!

📧 [email protected]

10/10/2026

Can’t believe we’re doing this again 🙈😎

09/10/2026

Injection Perfection 💦

We love a Porsche round here. Maybes you've noticed...

There's been a very special 996 C4S grace the ramps here at DT for some major work of late. Its a personal car belonging to someone in the trade of whom we have a very good relationship with, but thats a whole different post.

Today we talk about classic Porsches, their injectors and sometimes what cant be seen. 👀

We remove injectors like these from a lot of classic, weekend or even track day cars. These things spend long periods of time tucked away from the salty roads, under covers waiting for their owners to return with the keys.

Its a great situation if your looking to keep the miles off a long term investment or to get that happy feeling on a summers day, but unfortunatly its terrible for your poor little injectors.

Back to this one….

Removing the fuel rail to gain acsess to the injectors revealed a common sight on early 911’s, the dreaded rusty fuel rail. The fuel rail's arent the most accessible of things, and there's two of them with three injectors per bank and they dissapear into the back of the engine bay out of sight.

Onto the injectors - with these now removed the pre service testing showed good results, however once stripped there was another story to tell.

The internal filter baskets had just started to fail, the filter material had detached from the plastic basket and this would only be a matter of time before it would degrade, detach and make its way through the injector.

Our reccomendation is to upgrade into stainless steel items and ditch the troublesome plastic filters.

Post service testing gave us some pretty much perfect balanced results across all six injectors.
These results are the dream situation for injectors that are spread across two banks - now off to porsche for a pair of new fuel rails 🙈💵

As mentioned earlier we have a bit more to show on this 996 C4S so stay tuned 😉

Decimal Tenths
Unit 8
Imperial Business Park
Off Factory Road
Blaydon
NE21 5SA
📧 [email protected]

Decimal Tenths
ASNU Fuel Injection
North East Fuel Injector Services